


Flee

by pinkhoodie



Series: Run Away With Me [4]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 23:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkhoodie/pseuds/pinkhoodie
Summary: The decision is made. Kagome and Sango gather the rest of Sango's family and leave their old life behind in search of something better and new.





	Flee

**Author's Note:**

> In which the author, admittedly, has never had to run away before--so please forgive her if it's a little TV.

At first, they simply run. Kirara follows faithfully behind, loyal to only Sango even when she’d been preoccupied with motherly duties, assigned to housework, raising babies. With each passing day, Sango’s heart ached to grip her hands into that sturdy, textured fur while the wind bit at her cheeks and she searched for innocent villages in distress. To hop off her faithful companion while her ponytail whipped behind her, assuring people that she would help each and every one of them. But Miroku had ripped even that from her... she finally held her end of the bargain, bearing his children. What use was left of her? She often wonders that herself, but when she’s treated with the rare visit from Kagome, even now as they escape the shackles of unhappy and shallow marriages... those thoughts never once seep into her mind and poison her view of herself. 

They run, quietly into the night, avoiding the leaves and sticks of the forest beneath their feet. They step, in an attempt to stay quiet, only on the wet ones and Sango recalls her expert tracking skills to hide their trail and prevent them from making more noise. They’re too close to the village not to give away their position after all their hard work to disappear from their previous lives, so they don’t utilize Kirara; not yet. The burst of her fire, the flame diving up into the sky, her loud, inevitably roar, will surely give them away. 

For what appears to be at least two hours, they strafe and contort their bodies through plush greenery, some of which prickle and sting. Kagome and Sango run, and creep, and crawl; each clutching the hand of a little girl as they go, a baby secured to Sango’s chest. And they run. And they run. At times, the twins complain or yelp. 

“Mamaaaa,” Miu whines, the pink outfit she wears matching the tired blush of her cheeks. “Why did we leave home?” the other, Chiharu finishes. Her green kimono is a little dirty, but all Sango cares about is the fact that they’re protected in the thick, sturdy clothes. The twins both rub their eyes, and Sango can see now that they’ve both got a decent gash on the arm opposite of each other—so much for protection. It’s nothing too serious, but to children who are barely a step away from being toddlers, it’s the world. She gives Kagome a gentle, needy look and transfers Hiroki, her son, into her best friend’s waiting arms. 

With a petal’s touch, she ghosts her hands over their injuries; and Sango looks deeply into her daughters’ eyes while extracting healing medicines from the pouch Kagome had passed over in exchange for her baby. Sango coos, a comforting if hushed voice. “My babies, most precious things to me in the world.” She finishes gelling their arms with medicine, tops it off with the flats of large leaves that stick to the skin; and her hands move to the smooth tops of their skulls, pulling them close into her loving embrace. “What we’re doing now is important. We’re leaving home… and we’re not coming back.” 

The girls’ eyes widen as they gasp, their tiny arms pushing them away from their mother and clutching each other’s hands when they ask about Miroku. Papa. 

A look of wet pain washes over Sango’s eyes, raw and aching. “Papa’s… not coming.” She considers the future—if she lies now, then the logical conclusions is that she’ll be a liar. No, Daddy didn’t say he didn’t want to come along. No, Daddy isn’t dead. No, Daddy isn’t seeing somebody else. “I’m leaving him.” 

An apologetic sigh leaves her lips when the girls’ eyes moisten and wobble in perfect harmony, thick droplets streaking their already flushed faces. Sango doesn’t bother telling them to hush, but she does wipe the tears from their eyes with her thumbs. 

“Please understand, that everything is going to change now—and that change is good. Trust me. And help me do this.” She smiles, kneeling so that she’s eye level with them. “Mama will always be here, and it’s important to do exactly as I say, and to stay as quiet as you can for now.” When she strokes at their faces and smiles, her cheeks squeezing her eyes in the loveliest, most motherly way, Kagome notices as her pink eyeshadow accentuates the sincerity she radiates. Kagome finds herself, once again, staring, as she often did these days, so she looks up to the sky when a red tinge paints her face. The moon is pretty. 

“Where are we going?” The voice is too quiet for Kagome to tell which daughter it came from, but her heart aches anyways. The few seconds of silence that follows makes the ache even warmer. 

“I…” Sango’s mouth closes between words. “Don’t know yet.” Of course it would worry the girls to not know… Mom’s supposed to know everything. They start to sniffle again, struggling with the need to be as quiet as possible while also being allowed to feel however they feel, but Sango understands. In the way only a mother can, she offers a solution. “Do you want to go on an adventure with me? When I was younger, I never really knew where I was going to be.” Of course, they don’t know yet about the tragedy of her actual home, but they’ll learn when they’re old enough. Sango intends to hide nothing from them. “I was always travelling, just like we are now! Do you wanna see what mommy was like back then? When I used to fight demons and save people? Kagome did the same thing, too!” 

Their cheeks are pinched suddenly, lovingly, oppositely as Sango smiles at them and finally they return the expression. The girls sniffle and nod, dutifully but with a renewed fervor to travel; Sango’s strong little soldiers in the making. As they pause in an open patch in the dark, wet forest for a moment to regroup, Kagome puts a free hand on Sango’s shoulder and gives her an important look. A look that’s quite opposite of the tone Sango’s just set for her girls. The two pull back, far and quiet enough so that the girls don’t hear. 

“Sango, I’m... scared.” Her light eyes sparkle with what little shine the moon has to offer through the patchy treetops of the forest. “What if Inuyasha finds us? What if he brings Miroku? Are we far enough away to be... safe?” 

Returning the look, Sango blinks hard before she answers. “We will be. Trust me.” Her smile melts the outermost layer of doubt from Kagome’s candle heart, not completely removing it, but allowing the transparency of wax to wane that candle to a more hopeful tone. It’s buried somewhere in there—somewhere Kagome can’t find just yet. 

They walk for a while, trudging in knee-deep water with their clothes tied to their thighs when they can, and letting rocks be their literal stepping stones toward freedom. Sango carries Hiroki in her arms, and Kagome keeps Miu and Chiharu latched onto either hip, keeping them from leaving a trace when they step out of the creek. Until finally, it’s time.

After an exchange of intense looks, the women nod at each other and board their flight. Fire blazes, briefly, and then they’re off.

**Author's Note:**

> So like don't kill me but I had shallow-ish naming reasons for the kids? But it's literally not like Rumiko does any better? (Sango = Coral. Kohaku = Amber. Inuyasha = Dog Forest Spirit/Demon. C'mon.) So I at least tried to keep it within the same vein/feeling of the universe while also just giving them pretty names I liked? I tried to pick things based off of their clothing colors, since that's about all we got, but I also tried to name them for their significance in the story.
> 
> I wasn't the best at writing down my reasons back when I wrote the outline but I'm PRETTY sure when I picked the named, I picked the spelling of "Miu" that meant sea/ocean feather (feather/wing, since, flying? Running away? Etc?). Hers can mean sort of a lot of things, so take whatever interpretation you want from it tbh!
> 
> "Chiharu" I'm more than positive I picked the spelling that meant "thousand, spring" because green is a spring color. But it can also be spelled to mean wisdom/sunny weather. Maybe she can be the older twin by a few minutes, therefore "wiser"!
> 
> "Hiroki" means "big/great tree" or "big/great brightness" and I picked it to mean, like, a reason to make the future better. There's a brightness within her kids to be cherished, a tree that needs to be planted in order to grow properly; so of course Sango wants to give her kids as well as herself a better life. Hiroki's name reflects that.
> 
> I also just picked what I thought sounded and had different but a harmonious family feel to it. Since I have to do all the work and give RT's characters substance smh. I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
